Less Coffee, More Focus

This is not an all out campaign to end the sale of coffee.

This is not an attempt to explain the health benefits of drinking coffee or not drinking coffee.

No, quite the opposite.

Let me explain.

Years ago, I worked the night shift for an airline.  I worked in customer service so I had my fair share of reasons why I'd hit up Starbucks before my shift would start.  The real reason I needed coffee was because I was typically tired before my shift. I was also exhausted after my actual shift ended, well before my mandatory overtime was over.

You see, I lived where I could afford.  My $10-12 bucks an hour wouldn't afford a place near my job.  No.  So, I found a small town about an hour or so away from the company's parking garage and moved there.  

On to the next step.  

I would take the shuttle bus about another hour to the concourse where we'd meet as a group for another 20 minutes.

Y'all, by the time my shift started, I was extremely tired, hangry, and ready for a mid afternoon nap.  

But it gets crazier from here.

We would have these IROP months, yes I said months, when the sky just couldn't stop crying.  

Deep down I was crying too.

When you normally worked second shift, you'd be home and in bed before midnight.  Oh, but not me.  My crew and I were rebooking customers from one end of the concourse to the other.  This typically kept us at work 3-4 hours after our shift ended.

And before you tell me, ‘I know y'all got paid’.  We did get our time in half and sometimes double time, but at the expense of our sleep, our weekends, our holidays.  Yeah, those were our tough choices.

Anyway,

We also had “iced in days”.  This occured when our cars were iced in the parking lots.  We were required to do overnight stays in hotels for almost a week, but that's another subject we can talk about another day.

But on a normal IROP night, it took cups upon cups of coffee just to make it back to the parking garage.  Not to mention the coffee I needed so I could pick up my child from daycare before double late charges began (oh I always had to pay those 🙄).  And hope not to fall asleep in the Walmart parking lot AGAIN because I gotta make it back to work in the next few hours.

And we had to eat!

I said all this to say, when you spend less time frantic, your body typically requires less caffeine.  Since I am no longer working and traveling as much, my body is no longer requiring coffee to keep me focused on tasks.  

Our bodies can do miraculous things if we indeed take the time to rest, recoup, and receive new energy daily.  

I am not saying I don't enjoy a good cup of joe with some chicory and almond milk, because I'd be lying.  

But when we challenge ourselves to become better for ourselves, we end up feeling a whole hell of a lot better.  

And that's coming from a Starbucks Gold member since 2015.  Yeah, I don't understand either.

Take the selfcare plunge and head on over to Positive Vibes Only to get weekly motivation to conquer the world and inspiration in your inbox.  

And yes, it's cheaper than a cup of coffee.  😂😂😂. It's Free!